The Red Ribbon Army appeared in Dr. Slump episodes 56-59. Master Sergeant Murasaki was the first member shown as he watched Son Goku transform back into his base form after being a Great Ape. Murasaki recruited King Nikochan and his servant as members of the Red Ribbon Army to help him steal the Dragon Balls from Goku. They ended up disguising themselves as doctors and had the kids strip down to their underwear and stand in the hall to wait for check ups. While Murasaki was giving the fake check ups, the Nikos went into the classroom and stole the Dragon Balls. After they stole the Dragon Balls Murasaki got out of his disguise and ran away with the Nikos. Goku and Arale Norimaki ran after them and ended up fighting all of the Murasaki's Brothers and won. Nikochan and his servant then resigned from there position in the Red Ribbon Army, while Murasaki waited for General Blue to come.

Officially led by a diminutive Red, the goal of the Red Ribbon Army was to use any means necessary to obtain the Dragon Balls and wish for world takeover; yet Red secretly planned his wish for him to be a taller person. Since he was a very short person, he despised being around those who were taller than him.

When Staff Officer Black found out about Red's plan, he killed the commander and took control of the Red Ribbon Army and, in the anime, re-named the organization the Black Ribbon Army (ブラック リボン 軍, Burakku Ribon Gun). The entire army was defeated when a young boy named Son Goku sought to stop the army's evil ways by infiltrating the fortress, killing Black in the midst.

It is noted that every single officer in the Red Ribbon Army are intentionally named after a certain color (with the exception of Doctor Gero, who was actually named after a number/mechanical part).

In Dragon Ball GT, Doctor Gero meets Dr. Mu in Hell. There they worked on a plan to create the ultimate android which could destroy Goku. They came up with a plan to combine both of their technologies and get a perfect android by fusing two Android 17s. They then created a dimensional hole to get both androids in the same place - Earth – by creating a dimensional hole enemies from the past escaped from hell and some of them were members of the Red Ribbon Army which were: Android 19, Black, Blue, Metallic, Dark, and Yellow, all of them killed by Pan except for Android 19, who was killed by Son Goten and Kid Trunks.

They are all defeated and are sent back to hell when Goku escapes from there and join up with Nappa and Puipui, and they want to fight Piccolo.

Super No. 17 kills Gero and Mu later on and is killed by Goku when he gets help from No. 18.

The Red Ribbon Army had a role in Dragon Ball: The Path to Power where they were on a quest to get the Dragon Balls so that they could ask the Eternal Dragon, Shen Long, for world domination. Goku fought his way through the forces of the Red Ribbon Army. The Red Ribbon Army was the main villain in the film since it was a remake of the first saga and placed some of the established characters in new roles.

In Dragon Ball Online, which took place in 1000 Age, the Red Pants Army took the place of the Red Ribbon Army. The Red Pants Army's symbol was identical to that of the Red Ribbon Army and, like the latter, they recruited both Human and anthropomorphic animal lackeys. It was also revealed that Red was revived under the name No. 9 and was their leader.

Tao Pai Pai is a deadly, ruthless assassin who lives only for money. His name roughly translates into "Peach White White". Tao is the younger brother of the Crane Hermit, with whom he shares the signature Dodon Ray attack. He is hired by Red to eliminate Goku. The first time they fight Goku is defeated. But after Karin's training, Goku mops the floor with Tao. Realizing he is defeated Tao surrenders and when he sees Goku let down his guard he tosses a grenade at Goku. Goku then quickly kicks the grenade back at him and it blows up Tao instead. He returns at the 23rd Tenkaichi Tournament as part cyborg (perhaps using primitive technology created by Doctor Gero that would eventually make the Androids), but is beaten again by Tenshinhan.

He returns in the Cell Games as a bodyguard to a rich coward intent on forcing people to build a protective dome against Cell. Goku, in the midst of searching for one of the Dragon Balls, arrives at the fortress and after spending a day trying to figure out a puzzle concocted by Tao, retrieves the Dragon Ball and departs. Overwhelmed with fear after finally recognizing the then-Super Saiyan Goku, Tao flees. Tao cannot fly, but he does have a unique method of travel (or escape if he senses defeat like he did against Goku). Tao tears down a giant tree, throws it a far distance into the sky, and rides it off into the horizon. Although we never get to see the tree land, this is the last we see of him after the series.

It should be noted that Tao is not a member of the Red Ribbon Army, although he was a hired assassin for them. When Tao realized that he would be defeated at the hands of Son Goku, he deceived him by apologizing for his evil ways and saying he would surrender. Goku relaxed his guard and this gave Tao enough time to toss a grenade at him and jump away into the sky. Goku noticed the treachery and kicked the grenade back at Tao just in time for it to explode. Despite Tao's skills, when faced with someone stronger, it was seen how quickly one turned to lowly cheap tactics. While this added to the humor of the show and manga, it proved that he was a smart serious villain who could survive. The words "Kill You!" are seen on the back of his robe, which he cherished greatly.

Artificial Human No. 8, No. 13, No. 14, No. 15, No. 16, No. 17 (who is technically a cyborg, as is No. 18, and No. 20), No. 18, No. 19, No. 20, Cell, Super No. 13, and Super No. 17: all Artificial Humans and cyborgs were created by Gero, who later on became one himself (No. 20). Though only No. 8 is truly a member of the original Red Ribbon Army, all androids share the same objective: the destruction of Goku. Ironically, the exception is No. 8, whose programming was flawed and didn't like to fight, who becomes friends with Goku. No. 16, No. 17, and No. 18 also reform in Dragon Ball Z bearing an "RR" (Red Ribbon) logo.

Androids No. 1-7 and No. 9-12 were never seen in the manga or anime, nor were they even mentioned (save for a brief mention on one of the manga's title pages). Most likely they were failed experiments, as implied when during the Androids Saga Gero, when asked by Trunks about his other 16 androids, replied, "They were all failures, a mistake I regret". No. 17 also remarked how Gero destroyed No. 1-15 in the FUNimation dub.

Despite sharing some traits with the Nazis, the Red Ribbon Army does not appear to discriminate based on race (and in the case of Blue, sexual orientation). Blue, however, is apparently of German origin.

Although the Red Ribbon Army does not share any similarities (other than name) with the Soviet Army, White is apparently of Russian origin.

It is likely that the Red Ribbon Army is known across the world, as when Goku tells a Penguin Village Police Officer to look out for a person named Blue of the Red Ribbon Army, the police officer in question immediately runs away in fear upon hearing of the Red Ribbon Army.

Many members of the Red Ribbon Army have their designs and accents based on a certain race or country. Examples include Red (Scottish), Black (Possible African, or in the case of The Path to Power Native American), Blue (German), White (Russian, or in the case of The Path to Power Italian), Yellow (Australian), Murasaki (Japanese), Silver (presumed American) and MEtallic (Austrian, or in the case of The Path to Power African.). Note: Some of these only apply to the FUNimation dub. Hasky has a British accent and Tao has a Chinese-based design.